Many expecting mums and dads are surprised and shocked by how challenging becoming a parent can be. Up to one in five expecting or new mothers and one in ten expecting or new fathers will experience perinatal anxiety or depression.
As time progresses, we as a society have made great progress in understanding women’s emotional state following childbirth, especially in delicate areas such as postnatal depression, so much so that as a society we are able to better recognised early signs of struggles and are able to provide support much quicker and provide the necessary assistance to start addressing this issue.
My partner Chris and I came and done Peter Jackson’s Calmbirth course in the Southern Highlands in Mittagong on the 27th and the 28th of July this year. We are the couple that live in Appin, and my fear was labour in general, but mostly tearing. It was Chris’s idea to do the course as I was not very good at meditation.
“I feel very lucky to have had this experience giving birth. And both Carl and I feel that you and the Calmbirth classes gave us the tools and knowledge to prepare us. Going into this with an open mind, no fear and our Calmbirth toolkit made it, overall, a positive experience.”
Birth can be described using many different adjectives. For some it is empowering, joyous and amazing and everything goes like nature intended. However, for others, birth can be fought with many challenges and difficulties on the day, where things don’t go exactly as planned leaving some parents traumatised by their birth experience for many years to come.